Getting it out in the open
by Mr Inconspicuous
Summary: Ron makes a startling realisation and tells someone about it. But they may not really be the best person for the job... This story's just a bit of fun, nothing really significant at all. Please read and review, people! This is my first fanfic, so g


Ok, disclaimer time! I don't own any of these characters, they are all the property of J.K. Rowling, so no offence intended in their use.

This is my first fanfic, folks, so please read and review. Be nice! :-) 

This story is just a little bit of meaningless fun. It's the holidays after the fourth year, and Ron is a bit distracted by a realisation he has had. He finds someone to talk to about it, but that person may not really be the best person for the job…

George opened the door to Ron's room and peered inside. "What on earth was that noise?" he asked. Ron looked slightly embarrassed, but quickly hid it.

"Umm, must have been the ghoul, I guess," he said guiltily. 

George's eyes narrowed as he took in the scene in Ron's bedroom. "Nah, sounded more to me like a fourth year Transfiguration textbook being thrown at the wall."

"No it wasn't."

"There's a hole in the plaster, right there. Look."

"No, that was there before, I, um, had a poster covering it."

George took another look around. He hadn't quite been able to place what it was, but something had been missing from Ron's room since they got back for the holidays. Now he realised what it was. "Hey," he said, "why'd you take down your posters of Victor Krum?"

"Didn't want them anymore. Felt it was time for a change. Yeah, a big change. Get some more Cannons posters."

"Well that's not really much of a _change_, Ron." George was right. Almost every inch of wall in Ron's bedroom was covered by what seemed to be a seething mass of orange and black, the colours of the Chudly Cannons, his favourite Quidditch team.

"Well I thought I could use some more," Ron said. "You got a problem with that?"

"Heavens no!" said George, "I'm just a little surprised, that's all. You've been acting oddly recently. Well, odd for you, anyway." 

Ron rolled his eyes. "Go away, George."

George ignored him and stepped into the room. "Something bothering you, Ron?"

"No. Nothing. Nothing at all. Absolutely nothing. Not a thing. Zip." Ron said all of this quite quickly.

"OK," said George, "wrong question. Ron, _tell_ me what's bothering you."

Well, thought Ron, it can't _hurt_ to tell someone. Hold on, what am I saying? This is _George_ for crying out loud!

George could see Ron wrestling with this concept, and it brought a smile to his face. "Come on Ron, you can trust me!" he said with obvious enthusiasm.

Ron laughed out loud at this, but obviously decided there was a reasonable amount of truth in it, because he started talking.

"George," he started, before trailing off.

"Yes, that's my name. Don't wear it out, please, or I'll have to use Fred's and it's confusing enough already."

"Would you stop interrupting me?"

"No."

Oh well, thought Ron. I tried. He continued. "George, you know about…" he trailed off again. He began to gesture as though trying to find the right word.

"I know about what?" said George, tilting his head slightly, trying to interpret his brother's hand movements. "Fish? Radio waves? The Wronski Feint?"

Ron found the word he was looking for, and managed to get it out. "Girls? You know about girls, don't you?"

George's face lit up. He could tell this was going to be more fun than he had originally thought. He sat down in the wooden chair next to Ron's desk, leaned back and steepled his fingers. "Well Ron," he said in his best "wise old professor Dumbledore" voice, "you have come to the right place. I have been dispensing such wisdom to the less fortunate, such as you, for as long as I can remember."

"Oh come off it!" Ron exclaimed. "Fred's the one with the girlfriend, not you!"

"Do not mock what you do not understand, young Weasley."

"I don't know why I bothered even trying to talk to you."

"Come on Ron," George said, dropping the act, "do you want my help or not? You need all the help you can get, if you ask me."

"Ha ha. You're an absolute riot, George."

George sighed contentedly. "I know, Ron. You don't have to tell me these things, though I am flattered that you noticed, of course." George noticed Ron's scowl. "But back to business. Now, sit back and listen to my wisdom. Come on, when I tell you to sit, do it!" He nodded in satisfaction as Ron sat down on his bed, scowl still firmly in place. "Women, Ron, are a very mysterious bunch. They have confused and mystified males since time began. Even the very first single celled organisms would shake their heads in disbelief when…"

"Look," Ron interrupted, "how is this helping me?"

"Patience, Ron," George replied sagely. "You must learn patience. You will only understand when you cast your petty worries aside."

"Oh please."

"Fine, we'll skip this history lesson, but you don't know what you're missing. We'll move straight on to the important bits. Now, who is the woman who has stolen little Ron's heart?"

"Hey! We never said anything about naming names!" Ron said in a panicky voice, the scowl disappearing.

"Well how am I supposed to help you if I don't know who you're chasing. Come on, Ron, just tell me!"

"You know, on second thought, forget about it!" Ron was still panicking. "You obviously aren't the right sort of person to talk to about this anyway." He jumped up and dragged George out of the chair and started pushing him towards the door.

"Well I admit I am surprised you chose to talk to me. Flattered, yes. Proud, of course! But why not your friends? Why not Harry? Or Hermione? I mean, she's got a chick's perspective on it, that can help a lot!"

But at the mention of her name, Ron's face took on an even more fearful and panicked expression. George saw this and suddenly made the mental leap. He dragged himself out of Ron's grasp; his face bearing a grin that threatened to split it in half.

"Merlin's beard! It's her, isn't it? It's Hermione!"

Ron's expression quickly changed to one of total horror, but to his credit, he covered it up fairly well. "No," he said in a slightly strangled voice, "what makes you think that?"

"Might have had something to do with your face going a brighter colour than your hair when I said her name," George said in all seriousness.

Ron lost control and the horrified expression returned, bigger and better than ever. He spluttered something incomprehensible.

"Ooh, I wish I had a camera right now," George said with glee, framing Ron with his fingers and making clicking noises. "Fred would _die_ to see this."

"NO!!" Ron practically screamed. He grabbed George by the shoulders and shook him violently. "You can't tell anyone! ANYONE!! Not Lee, not Angelina, not Harry, not even Fred!"

"Can I tell Hermione?" George asked innocently.

Ron made a funny high pitched squawking noise that George had to assume meant "no". This deduction was helped by the fact that his face went even redder, his expression defied imagination by becoming even more horrified and he shook his head so violently that George thought it might fall off at any second.

"Sit down, Ron, before you have a stroke or something."

With a slight push, Ron collapsed into the chair. He buried his face in his hands, and began shaking his head again. George felt that this opportunity had to be milked for all it was worth.

"I can't really blame you, Ron," he said, affecting a thoughtful expression and rubbing his chin. "I mean, did you see her at the Yule Ball?"

"Of course I saw her!! I couldn't keep my eyes off her all night!!" Ron said, sitting up straight again. He had realised his position was helpless now, so he had little choice. If he gave George the information he wanted, maybe he would agree to keep quiet. It was a long shot, but it was the only one Ron had left.

George's thoughtful expression deepened for a second, and he glanced at the bare spots on the walls that had until recently been graced by posters of a certain Bulgarian Quiditch player. "Ah," he said, "the redecorations take on more significance. She went to the ball with... "

"Don't remind me!" Ron cut him off.

"So Ron's face has gone red, but he's also more than a little green about this?" Jealousy is so fun to watch, he reminded himself.

"I suppose so," Ron replied in a dejected sort of voice. "At first I thought I was angry because she was going with someone from Durmstrang, but now I'm afraid that there's more to it than that."

George sat down on Ron's bed. "How long have you felt like this about her?" Listen to me, he thought, I'm being serious! Good lord, what's come over me? I'm so ashamed…

"I don't know," Ron replied. I only just realised it recently. I was thinking about it and all of a sudden, BANG, I realise what I've been doing and how much of a fool I must have made of myself at the ball."

"I see. She's not such a bad catch, really, is she? I mean, she's really loosened up quite a bit since we first met her. Well, except for that SPEW thing last year, that was just nuts."

"She's in Bulgaria with Krum right now! There's nothing I can do! And believe me, I'm very, very scared that I'm going to make an even bigger fool of myself next year!"

"Well the way I see it Ron, you have two choices. You can keep this up and risk making a fool out of yourself like you just said, or you can actually DO something about it."

"Like what?!?"

"Like grit your teeth, stand up and tell her!"

"WHAT? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!? She's going out with Krum, you idiot!"

"But Krum's in Bulgaria, Ron. Hermione's a smart girl, and she may well decide that a long distance relationship just isn't going to work, and then you're in with a chance. You never know, mate, you might get lucky."

"Right, sure."

"You know what they say, Ron: "Love is like a box of chocolates.""

"What? Who says that? What on earth is that supposed to mean?"

"Um, I don't actually know," George admitted. "It's a muggle thing."

"Where in the world did you pick that up?"

"That's not important Ron, what's important is that I tell Fred all about this and we keep the village awake all night with our laughter." George deserved credit in that he managed to say this with an entirely straight face. Ron's face was anything but straight.

"No! You said you wouldn't tell!"

"No, Ron, _you_ said I wouldn't tell. I said Fred would die to…"

Ron cut him off again. "No, please!! Promise me you won't tell a soul!"

"Ok, Ron," George said rolling his eyes, as though he thought it was a completely incomprehensible request, "I won't tell a soul."

Ron sighed happily and settled back in the chair.

But George wasn't finished yet. "Can I drop hints?"

"What? No!"

"Can I write it down, just so I don't forget?"

"No!!"

"Can I use reverse psychology? You know, "Hey Fred, did you know that Ron absolutely, one hundred percent does _not_ have a crush on Hermione Granger, wink wink, nudge nudge?"

"NO!!! You can't say _anything_!! To ANYONE!! No living soul must know!"

"Then can I tell a ghost?"

"NO!!!!!"

"Sorry Ron, I'm just messing with your mind a little. Although it seems like it's been pretty well messed without any help from me."

Ron actually went down on his knees. George was quite impressed by this, and hoped that Ron would humiliate himself just a little bit more. He wasn't allowed to tell anyone about this right now, but the day would come when Fred would hear the entire thing. George wanted the story to be as impressive as possible.

"Please promise me that you won't tell anyone!" said Ron. "Swear on…on…on the joke shop!! Swear to me on the future of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes that you will not tell anyone that this conversation ever took place!"

George grudgingly admitted to himself that he felt some pity towards Ron, but he was realistic enough to know that this couldn't stay a secret for long. Ron would make a mistake, just like he did here, and it would be out. Once that happened, it couldn't be stopped, and the rumour would take on a life of its own. But George decided to humour him a bit. "Ok Ron," he said, raising his left hand and placing his right over his heart, "I, George Weasley do solemnly swear by the future of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes that I will not tell anyone of this conversation or of what was spoken of in it."

Ron sagged in relief. "Thank you, thankyou thankyou thankyou," he said. 

"Hey, it was my pleasure." George grinned as he stood up. "Got any more deep dark secrets you want to tell me?"

"As though I would tell you _anything_ after this."

"Hey, I listened didn't I?" exclaimed George, trying to sound indignant through his laughter, "I gave you some advice, didn't I?"

"If you call that advice."

George grinned at his brother. "There's an easy solution, Ron, and I say take it before someone else finds out. Someone less trustworthy than yours truly."

The venomous look in Ron's eyes convinced George it was time to quit while he was ahead. He walked out of his brother's room, laughing his head off. When he got back to the bedroom he shared with Fred, his twin looked up from the new order form draft he was working on.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"Ah, don't worry about it Fred, I've got a funny feeling you'll learn soon enough. And funny is the operative word.


End file.
